Monday, May 05, 2014

That magic moment

Last night when I took the Wogster out for her last squirt
of the day, I first noticed the lovely crescent moon sort of surrounded by
several bright stars and/or planets in a rather pleasing display and then, down
much lower near the ground, the flashing of a firefly, the first one I’ve seen
this Spring.

I suddenly realized with some surprise that the
next day -- today -- would be the anniversary of our arrival here in 1981
(unless it was May 7, but no matter, close enough). We arrived late in the
afternoon, already in a daze with the beauty of this part of the state, but that was only the beginning of what was in store for us later on that evening.

Richard drove the U-haul truck, which contained our stuff, I
drove our family car, and my parents had come along in their car, pulling a
trailer. It was much too late in the day to begin unloading the truck, and we
were all tired anyway. They began to set up the trailer, and we drove to town,
before it got too dark, to reconnoiter and figure out where we might sleep ourselves.
We came back as it began to get dusky. And then suddenly we heard ourselves
oohing and aahing. We did not need a prompter on the sidelines encouraging us. We
watched in stunned amazement at the incredible display that began very
gradually and then got increasingly intense as the sky darkened. We were surrounded
by twinkling fireflies. It was magic. They were everywhere, flashing, rising, and falling and moving in all directions.
None of us had ever seen them – our closest experience with what fireflies were
had been at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland, which they
had mimicked by stringing small twinkling lights.

A lot has changed here since then. We decided not to
continue to brush hog the pastures that surrounded the house and to let
everything grow back. And it certainly has. Gradually, over the years, the number
of fireflies has diminished; perhaps because of the changes to our land and
perhaps for another reason; in any event, there are not that many any more. But
there are still a few, and seeing them is still magical …

About Me

We (husband, son, and I) left the West Coast and moved East in 1981 to the Missouri Ozarks and took up country living on an old 8-acre farm on the outskirts of Willow Springs. I try to to greet each day with joy, despite circumstances that aren't always so joyful, to be grateful for the blessings of life, and to keep myself lined up with God's plans. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Thanks for visiting!

Thoughts to ponder

Most of us go through life so absorbed in the cocoon of ourselves that we rarely stop to consider the other. Of course, we think that we do; indeed, we may pride ourselves on our capacity for empathy; we may be considerate and thoughtful in our dealings with others, but how often do we stand before them. so to speak, and experience what it is to be them?--Domenica Macdonald

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones, by Alexander McCallSmith

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Living is like tearing through a museum. Not until later do you really start absorbing what you saw, thinking about it, looking it up in a book, and remembering -- because you can't take it in all at once. --Audrey Hepburn

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I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.--Agatha Christie

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Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh.--Katharine Hepburn